“The only part that still needs to be completed – and is about 90% done – is the legal part,” says Kattouah.
While many US sanctions on Syria have been lifted, the country remains on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list, which still affects Visa and MasterCard settlement processes.
The designation carries separate restrictions and reputational risks for banks and financial institutions.
“We expect that either the designation will be removed or a waiver will be provided to Visa and MasterCard payments due to the transparent nature of their systems,” he says, adding that negotiations are ongoing between Syria’s central bank governor and relevant parties.
Any Syrian individual or business that has attempted to access the global financial system is familiar with the issue of “overcompliance”. Financial institutions and service providers often approach Syrian clients with extreme caution, demanding extensive anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) checks – or denying services altogether.
Kattouah says Paymera is shouldering that extra burden, working to ensure AML and KYC compliance standards are met to help facilitate the roll-out of e-payments in Syria.
While those responsibilities are not formally required of the company as a payments provider, he says the additional measures are intended to reassure international partners and banks.
“It cannot start unless we do this. I keep telling my team that we need to make the most use of the extra time available to us to hit the ground running,” says Kattouah.
That urgency reflects the broader ambition behind the effort: shifting Syria from a heavily cash-dependent economy towards a more digitally connected financial system.
A Symbolic Step, Not Full Reintegration
Still, experts caution that reconnecting Syria to global payment networks will be a gradual process.
Vittorio Maresca di Serracapriola, sanctions lead analyst at Karam Shaar Advisory, says he was initially surprised the test payments went through, admitting he first assumed the announcement was a PR stunt before verifying it independently.
However, he says expectations should be tempered, as the introduction of these payment systems does not automatically mean Syria’s banking sector has been fully reintegrated into international banking networks.
Having spent years analysing Syria’s sanctions landscape, Serracapriola says there is still a long way to go, particularly as the country continues to be viewed as high risk. In some cases, he notes, simply mentioning “Syria” or processing a transaction linked to the country’s geolocation could still lead some banks to block accounts.